Carlina started at the Clinic as a Health Worker Volunteer, while working as a Senior Project Coordinator at the Tides Center, a local nonprofit incubator and fiscal sponsor. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Women’s Health Advisory Committee of the Department of Public Health and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Women’s Working Group on Universal Health Care. She is a graduate of the Women’s Foundation of California’s Women’s Policy Institute and of CompassPoint’s Executive Leadership Circles. In 2007 she was voted Young Executive Director of the Year by Young Non Profit Professionals Network (YNPN). She was recently selected as a participant in the 2008 Clinic Leadership Institute, an innovative, part-time training and professional development program for emerging leaders in California’s clinics.

She has been the Medical Director of the Clinic since 2000 and was joined by Co-Medical Director Dr. Eve Zaritsky in 2006, after Karen's second daughter was born. Karen completed a fellowship in Family Planning at UCSF, during which she also attained additional training in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a Masters in Public Health in Health Policy & Management. Having worked internationally in Guatemala, Paraguay and Nepal, she now directs her expertise to providing health care for underserved women both locally and nationally.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in Community Health, Eve moved to the Bay Area. She then attended medical school and during that time spent a year in El Salvador, providing medical care, conducting health care research and becoming fluent in Spanish. After completing an internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology, she attended a yearlong fellowship in laparoscopy. In September 2006, Eve traveled to Tibet on behalf of the organization One H.E.A.R.T., which works to train Tibetans in health care skills that enable them to help themselves, particularly in the area of infant and maternal morbidity/mortality. In the near future, she plans to do more work in women's reproductive health/family planning in Ghana. When not at the Clinic, Eve is an avid surfer. Eve joined the Clinic as Medical Director in 2006.

When EJ is not working at the Clinic, she likes to spend time reading, and playing with her very active and adorable nephew. EJ joined the Clinic as an Outreach Coordinator in February 2008.  As one of the newest staff at the Clinic, EJ is excited about the opportunity to work with and for the health and well-being of women in our community.

Jaime loves her work serving the San Francisco homeless and transgendered community in the Bay Area. Jamie can often be found at A Woman’s Place, where she works as a Substance Abuse Counselor and Case Manager for women and transgender women living with HIV. Her past experience includes six years as a Case Manager at Lyon Martin and three and half years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisor’s Homeless Surplus Committee. On top of all this, she runs Big Face Party Planning, “food for your soul,” has nine brothers and one sister, and goes to visit her mother-in-law in Palo Alto every weekend. She has been with the Clinic since 2004.

Her father is second generation Chinese and her mother is Caucasian, so she identifies as hapa. She played soccer from kindergarten through high school and has always loved to paint. Caitlin majored in Global Studies with a minor in Women, Culture and Development. Throughout college she was involved in several women's organizations and did a lot of educating and organizing around the issue of sexual assault. Caitlin studied abroad in South Africa for the fall semester of 2006 and would love to live there again sometime down the road. She hopes to enter a dual degree program somewhere in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2009 so she can work simultaneously work towards a law degree and a Masters in International Development. She is excited to get some hands on experience in the next year learning about how health services are provided to low income women and how they can be better served in this country and around the world.

Debby has been working in women’s health for over 30 years and loves it. Her first experience in women’s health was as a volunteer counselor at Planned Parenthood in the early 70’s. After earning her Bachelor of Nursing, she worked as a nurse at Planned Parenthood and in the family planning clinic at San Francisco General Hospital for many years. In 1999 she got a Masters of Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner certification and has since been providing women’s health and primary care in a variety of positions in San Francisco; most recently at New Generation Health Center and Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. In her time away from work, Debby enjoys working in her backyard vegetable and flower garden, sewing and quilting, hiking on all the beautiful Bay Area trails, and taking backpacking trips in the Sierras. She has two wonderful sons who were born, raised, and are now living and working in San Francisco.

Antoineisha was born in San Francisco. She has four brothers and one sister. Aside from the Clinic she also works part time in retail and attends college in San Mateo. Antoineisha is a very sweet and warm hearted young lady. She comes from a single parent home that is very traditional. Despite all of her life’s trials and tribulations she is very grateful for being blessed with her parents. Her goal is to open a group home that provides stability, structure and love, everything she believes a child needs to become the best person they can be in life. Antoineisha hopes to get as much knowledge from working at the Clinic as possible. She feels this opportunity will provide her with information that she can share with her community and maybe one day she will be able to start a program similar to the WAHT program so that she can help open doors for others in her position.

Katie’s deep faith in people and our power to change the world for the better has prompted her to work at the Feminist Majority Foundation, Women in Community Service, the Youth Leadership Institute, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, and Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo. Along with Executive Director Carlina Hansen, Katie was an inaugural fellow of the Women’s Foundation of California’s Women’s Policy Institute. Currently, Katie swims with San Francisco Tsunami Synchronized Swim Team (in 2006, she won two gold medals at the Gay Games!) and serves on their Board of Directors.

Tara has been working in the nonprofit sector for 8 years, joining the Clinic in 2005. Tara manages numerous fundraising projects at the Clinic, including: our annual campaign, foundation and corporate grants, Give the Gift of Health, HYSTERIA – our biggest biennial event, and our Advancement Committee. She also oversees both foundation and individual giving. When she is not at the Clinic, Tara volunteers as a whitewater river guide for Healing Waters, a Bay Area non-profit organization that provides outdoor adventure opportunities for people with AIDS and HIV; she serves on the Speakers’ Bureau of Intersex Initiative; and she serves on the Advisory Board of Root Division, an arts and education non-profit organization in San Francisco.

Mikaela Merchant was born and raised in San Francisco to hippie parents in 1981. She is currently finishing her pre-requisites for a nursing program. Her dream is to work at San Francisco General Hospital in the emergency room. She is interested in working with underserved communities in San Francisco with a special focus on the connection between mental and physical health. Mikaela is very excited to be a part of WAHT and hopes to be able to get a strong network to educate the people of her Western Addition community about the health issues that affect us. One of her focuses while completing her internship at the Clinic will be Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the effects it has on her community and communities alike.

Tatiana splits her time between program planning for the WAHT! Program and health educating. She maintains the WAHT! blog, and helps plan and host sexual and reproductive health workshops for young women in San Francisco. In addition to her work with the Clinic, Tatiana volunteers as a bilingual health educator, a bureau public speaker with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Tatiana holds her Bachelors of Science degree in Health Education with a Holistic Health emphasis. Her favorite color is yellow, her favorite book is the Medical Nemesis and she absolutely loves being a part of the Clinic.

In addition to her role at the Clinic, Yvonne volunteers for San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI), a non-profit information and referral service that provides non-judgmental, accurate sex information to clients and future sex educators. At SFSI, she works the free phone switchboard, trains staff, and serves on the board of directors. Yvonne also provides sex education consulting services through Good Vibrations’ education department, providing local communities with workshops on sexual health and pleasure. In 2008, Yvonne began a two-year teaching commitment at UCSF School of Medicine, where she facilitates a Foundations of Patient Care group for medical students.  Yvonne earned her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science in 2006. She loves reading, knitting, cooking, running and motorcycle riding.

Previous to joining the Clinic in 2007, Anne worked as an Account Executive at Fenton Communications, where she specialized in high profile coverage of hot button issues like medical cannabis use, mercury poisoning, and marriage equality. Anne is an experienced event producer and filmmaker who has collaborated on numerous event and independent film projects in the Bay Area. In her spare time, Anne teaches English as a Second Language, watches TV on DVD,  and plays with other people’s dogs. She has a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Africana Studies.

In no time at all, Robin was hooked and went on to support the Clinic as an Americorps intern, Health Educator, and Clinic Supervisor until she graduated in May 2007. Soon after she joined the staff as the Associate Clinic Manager. Robin’s enthusiasm for building Clinic community led her to manage the Celebrations Committee. As a fluent Spanish speaker who strives to keep it up, Robin also volunteers as a medical assistant at the San Francisco General Hospital’s Women’s Health Center. Having studied Environmental Science, Robin has an underlying interest in the sustainability of things, and loves being a part of efforts to make health care more so. Robin has an inclination for cooking and loves salsa dancing; she cherishes fresh air and books.

Olivia was born and raised in the East Bay town of Albany and received a B.A. in Sociology. While in college she studied abroad for a year in Madrid, Spain. Olivia became interested in public health and women’s issues after taking eye-opening courses that addressed a wide range of issues concerning health and inequalities. She enjoys traveling, spending time outdoors, kickboxing, music, and meeting new people. After this year, Olivia plans to volunteer in South America, and then attend graduate school to study Public Health. She could not be happier to start the next chapter of my life at the Women’s Community Clinic where she can meet and work with like-minded people who are all passionate about the same issues.

Kemi joined the Clinic as a volunteer in September 2005. She began as a Client Services Coordinator and then moved on to serve as a Health Educator and Pregnancy Counselor. Through the WAHT! Program, she hopes to expand the Clinic’s impact on the health of African-American women and girls in San Francisco while continuing the Clinic’s tradition of providing quality care, education and training. Kemi has extensive experience working in health-related research and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.

Involved with the Women’s Community Clinic since 2004, Laura Sheckler has volunteered as a Client Services Coordinator, Health Educator, Outreach Worker and AmeriCorps Member. Over the past three years she has studied Clinical Western Herbalism. She loves being both in and outside of the Clinic. Identifying with lots of communities that have been marginalized within and function outside of mainstream healthcare models, providing care and resources where folks are (literally) at, on their own terms, through the Outreach Program has felt like an appropriate fit. She looks forward to transferring her experience with sex education, harm reduction, and client-centered health care from the Bay Area back to a small town somewhere in the mountains or the desert. When not in the Clinic, Laura spends as much time as possible at home enjoying the East Bay sun under the world’s largest pineapple in the sky (an over-zealously trimmed palm tree).

Angela keeps busy working full-time at UCSF Medical Center on the Pediatrics floor and loves her job. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with friends, dancing, and going to concerts or shows. Music is her passion and she surrounds herself with it on a daily basis. Other things that keep her busy include salsa dancing, reading, writing, and keeping in touch with her close family in St. Louis. She is really looking forward to being a part of the Clinic community!

Anita has worn many hats at the Clinic since she joined our community as an AmeriCorps Member in 2002. After that year, she moved on to serve as the Volunteer Coordinator and the Clinic Manager until leaving to attend nursing school in 2005. While she was in nursing school, she served as a Board Member. Her time at school proved to be a brief sabbatical, as she returned to Clinic staff in February 2007 in her current position. She is committed to reducing health disparities, increasing access to care, and changing the health care system and sees her role in program management as integral to that. When she is not at the Clinic she is spending time with her lovely son (born September 2007) and finishing up her master's degree in Advanced Community Health and International Nursing. Other favorite things include spending time outdoors, relaxing with friends, reading, swimming and practicing yoga.